


Henry and Alex, pt. 2

by schmulte



Series: Kissing in the Rain [8]
Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Actor AU!, Enemies to Lovers, Getting Together, Kissing in the Rain, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schmulte/pseuds/schmulte
Summary: Actors Henry and Alex kiss in the rain one final time.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Series: Kissing in the Rain [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091210
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	Henry and Alex, pt. 2

Alex tries not to let himself grieve over Henry. It's not like they were officially together. It's not like they were anything more than a one-night stand to Henry. It's not as if Henry is going to come back and hold up a boombox outside Alex's apartment, John Hughes style. 

He made it very clear where his priorities lie. He's been back in England for weeks, and has blocked Alex's number. It's over, and there's nothing else to it. It's no use, thinking about what they could have been. He works and does interviews, promotes his newest project. He goes out to clubs and home with a couple different men and women, but they don't compare to Henry. He tastefully deflects the questions from interviewers about their relationship, asking which project they're working on together next, with a charming leading man smile. 

The worst part about it, he thinks, is that it's still all so confusing. He went from despising Henry to becoming slow friends, to...whatever it was they had done. And now it's back to radio silence. His relationship with Henry has always been kind of hot and cold, but not on this level. He hates to admit how much it's getting under his skin. 

He's at home on a Friday night, bundled up in his apartment in his sweatpants while it pours rain outside. He's trying to distract himself, reading a trashy magazine speculating that he had gotten some young actress pregnant, but his neighbors across the street are blasting music. It's something cheesy from the 80s, a poppy, romantic ballad. They must be having some kind of themed party to be playing that so loud. He tries to keep reading, but he's feeling so restless that he can't help himself. He throws on his rain boots and opens the door with the full intention of going across the street and giving his neighbors a piece of his mind. 

But he doesn't. Because, standing in front of him, in the rain, holding a speaker above his head, is Henry. Henry, who is soaked to the bone, and playing the worst, most cheesy 80s romantic music at the highest possible volume. Alex can't do anything but stare as he lowers the speaker and turns the music off. Henry steps forward, onto the safety of the covered front porch, while Alex leans against the doorframe, trying his best to look unimpressed. 

"Hi," Henry says, breathless, smiling. He looks a mess, all mussed up, but he's as beautiful as ever. 

"Hi."

Henry clears his throat. "Those of us at home may be wondering what it is I'm doing here. On your front porch. In the rain." Alex straightens up a bit.

"Those of us at home may have thought you hated those of us at home."

"I..." Henry shuts his mouth for a moment, thinks. "I'm here to explain. After, you can send me on my way, you don't have to forgive me. All I ask is that you listen."

Despite himself, Alex feels himself softening. "Henry, you don't have to stand out here, you can come inside--"

"I'm trying to do a thing and clearly the gods of irony have chosen to back me up, so just. Just listen to me, okay?" Alex stays silent and watches Henry take a deep breath. "I was a prick. I should never have said the things I said to you, and I am deeply sorry for hurting you. The truth is...the truth is that I'm in love with you. I have been since the moment we met. But my father had just died, and there was all this pressure on me to keep up his legacy, to be the perfect heterosexual Hollywood heartthrob like he was. So I chose to be incredibly rude to you, and hoped we'd never see each other again and I could just love you in silence. But, obviously, that didn't work out the way I planned." He pauses, questioning, but Alex stays silent. 

"I thought we could just be friends. I convinced myself that all those late-night phone calls and texts was nothing. And then that day on set happened and...I was a coward. I _am_ a coward. I wasn't brave enough to go after what I really wanted, so I left, and I'm sorry. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I know you're a hundred times braver than I am, and I'll understand if you tell me to piss off--"

"You love me?"

Henry blinks, blue eyes wide. "Yes. I do."

Alex understands the irony. That Henry is here, in the rain, after playing a love song outside his apartment. That this is the culmination of every kiss in the rain they've ever had, that this could all be a scene in a movie or a book in a different universe. But he doesn't think about that, not now. Not when he steps out onto the porch and takes Henry's face in his hands. Not when he kisses him like he has so many times before, in every universe, under the same rain. He kisses him not as Laurie to Jo, Oliver to Ben, Simon to Bram, Patroclus to Achilles, Liz to Darcy. He kisses him as they are, Alex to Henry, and decides it's best part he's ever played. 


End file.
